Radioactive waste is materials that are radioactive and for which there is no further use available. Radioactive materials give off harmful energy (x-rays, gamma rays, and others) in the form of waves, rays or particles. Radioactive waste is produced from laboratory activities or commercial activities. Radioactive waste can include high-level and low-level radioactive waste. High-level waste includes radioactive waste left in a nuclear reactor after nuclear fuel has been consumed. Low-level waste includes objects or materials that have been exposed to radiation and remain contaminated.
Managing radioactive waste is a major world industry that is heavily regulated and controlled by government agencies. Exposure to energy associated with radioactive waste can cause death, birth defects, mass evacuations of geographic areas, and severe catastrophic illnesses, such as cancer. Moreover, each time a radioactive waste disposal company attempts to dispose of radioactive waste they are subject to mass protests by citizens and environmental organizations. As a result, nuclear power and other energy that produces harmful radiation have not been as widely deployed as governments had originally desired and anticipated.
However, radioactive waste continues to be produced at alarming rates. One reason is that the time period during which radioactive waste remains harmful is extremely long, several lifetimes. Thus, containers and methods used to house the radioactive waste often deteriorate long before the radioactive waste becomes harmless.
There are a variety of techniques that are used to contain and store radioactive waste. Some examples include producing synroc or synthetic rock composites that include or encapsulate the radioactive waste. One notable technique is to mix radioactive waste with cement to produce a radioactive cement block. The cement is then further sealed with paints that help contain the radioactive waste.
Another technique is to thicken radio active waste, such as radioactive waste treatment water and then seal the waste water in large containers. These containers can deteriorate over many years of storage or can become punctured. The radioactive waste is then capable of seeping into the environment and creating potential deadly exposure to humans and the environment.
Conventional disposal techniques are expensive, time consuming, and do not yield the kind of results that the waste industry and governments had anticipated. Synroc can deteriorate and thickeners often include heavy metals that can leach into the environment when subject to normal environmental conditions over time. In fact, many techniques will specifically produce or mine raw metals or other materials for the purpose of using these metals or materials in combination with a radioactive waste disposal process. The production or mining of these special metals and materials add substantially to the costs associated with disposing of radioactive waste. In fact, one primary reason why nuclear or alternative energies have not been more wide spread in their applications is because of the expense associated with safely disposing of the radioactive waste.
Accordingly, there is a need for less-expensive materials and techniques that can assist in improving the safe disposal of radioactive waste.